Look for supersized 'supermoon' Saturday at sunset, NASA says

Look to the east at sunset Saturday and you’ll see it, NASA says: a full moon so close to the Earth that it will be the largest it has looked to us in 18 years.

That’s because the moon won’t just be full, it will be at the perigee of its elliptical or oval orbit around the Earth, as close as it can get – about 31,070 miles closer than when the moon is at the apogee or farthest distance from Earth in its orbit.

Though it still will be 221,566 miles away, this perigee “supermoon” will look 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than a full moon looks at apogee, says NASA, which offers this advice to skywatchers:

“The best time to look is when the moon is near the horizon. That is when illusion mixes with reality to produce a truly stunning view. For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects. The swollen orb rising in the east at sunset may seem so nearby, you can almost reach out and touch it.”

According to timeanddate.com, sunset Saturday in Columbus will be 7:51 p.m. Moonrise will be 8:08 p.m.